Slowly Pealing Away That Mask
by The.Ocean.Shadow
Summary: ONESHOT The mask had always separated Bruce Wayne and Batman. One was never mentioned with the other. Bruce was an orphaned billionaire, Batman a hero. As long as a barrier was still there, he'd be two people. What would it take for them to become one?


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Batman series, nor the movies. Anything that involves Batman is not owned by me. This is for fun purposes only.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my first Batman story. It's based from the movie, Batman Forever. By the way, I loved that movie, I recently watched it last night. This is a one shot that deals with Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman. Please read and review. Enjoy.**

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**Slowly Pealing Away That Mask**_** By: Balseirocharmed**_

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At day, he was Bruce Wayne. A billionaire. But at night, when the sun was down, he was the dark knight. Batman. He hadn't always been two separate people. He used to be just Bruce Wayne. Just Bruce. But all that had changed for him, after he had witnessed the tragic deaths of his parents. Anybody else in his place would have never been able to have done what he had done after his parents' death. Instead of drowning in a puddle of depression, a new need was born - a determination. That sad night, he had vowed to himself that no other innocent would have to go through what he had gone through. Not as long as he was around.

Bruce Wayne and Batman had always been two separate people. A news paper talking about a new project in Wayne Industries, would only talk of Bruce and the workers, never mentioning Bruce's alter ego. While papers that praised Batman for saving the people once again, and never mentioned Bruce. Bruce Wayne was the man who had lost his parents and became a billionaire. Batman was the hero, who saved billions of strangers every single day. But in some sort, the two were just the same. Both of them were human. If you pealed off the dark knight's mask, you would be left seeing a human face. Not only a human face, but also the face of Bruce Wayne. The mask was just a cover. When the mask was on, he was no longer Bruce Wayne, but Batman. However, he became Bruce when the mask was off. It was silly to think that a mask could control who he was, but for him this logic made perfect sense.

"_I guess we're all two people" _he had once said when the mask was on.

* * *

The day, a boy, who was similar to him, witnessed his own parents' death, something else changed for Bruce. He had felt that it was duty to take this boy in. He had felt responsible. After all, Two Face had only been at the circus looking to bait him. If he had been else where that night, maybe these deaths would have never happened. He knew that what had happened that night had been out of his control. Although if he had been aware of Two Face's plot, maybe he would been able to save, if not all, some of the innocent people. As Batman, he kept thinking of what he could have done, and telling himself that if he had been one step ahead, he could have done something. However as Bruce Wayne, he reasoned with himself that there was nothing he could have done. Nothing. Bruce would settle for this reasoning, but the dark knight wouldn't.

At some point in time, Bruce Wayne had befriended the boy, who had later taken up the name Robin. Maybe the reason Bruce felt so close to this boy was the fact that he could relate. In some sort, they were just the same. Just like Bruce, Robin had witnessed the fall of his parents and his little brother. It was happening again. There was no way that something like this was a coincidence. Bruce had seen a part of himself in the boy. He knew what had come next would have happened no matter what, but when it came, he still was not ready.

The boy had wanted to fight crime alongside the dark knight, and he had been very determined to do so. For different reasons, Bruce and Batman, had quickly shunned that idea. This had been the only time that both of them were on the same side. While Bruce told himself that it was far too dangerous for a boy like Robin, the dark knight reasoned that the boy's head was not all in it. The boy wanted revenge. As Bruce Wayne, he understood what it felt like to want revenge, but as Batman he knew that revenge would grow, even after ridding the world of Two Face. Dick was willing to take a life. Not just anyone's life. Two-Face's life.

* * *

"_So you're willing to take a life._" Bruce had stated that night.

"_Long as it's Two-Face_"responded Dick.

"_Then it will happen this way: You make the kill, but your pain doesn't die with Harvey. It grows._"It was all cause and effect."_So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life. And, you won't know why._"

"_You can't understand. Your family wasn't killed by a maniac!_"Dick Grayson had yelled at Bruce. Those words had stung, even though Bruce knew the truth.

"_Yes, they were._"Bruce had said, trying to hold back tears as he fought off some flash backs. "_We're the same._"

* * *

One night after that discussion, Bruce Wayne had changed once more. It happened in the Bat cave, where he had shut down all of the batman equipment. Batman was gone. Not even in the night, would the dark knight make an appearance. In the daylight, the billionaire would be Bruce Wayne. In the dark, he would still be Bruce. If it had been another time, this probably would have been different. Bruce knew that at one point Batman would return, but as long as the time was not now, he would enjoy being one person. The dark knight had only been gone for one night, but that was enough time for evil to cause some havoc in Gotham City.

Two Face had teamed up with the Riddler, and ambushed him as Bruce Wayne. In some sense it was ironic. Batman's enemies were ganging up on him, even when the mask was off. _If the villains could see him as one person, why couldn't he? _By some miracle, the villains had not left him for the dead. When he had fallen and the dark had consumed him, he had been sure that he had died. For a brief moment, when he had awoken, he was sure that he was dead, but Alfred's voice had ridded him of that idea. His head ached, but he was very much alive. The conversation that Bruce had with Alfred had reminded him of old times. Before and after the birth of Batman. He could still remember the conversation.

"_Master Bruce…Master Bruce._"Alfred Pennyworth had said in a soft voice, and when Bruce's eyes had flickered opened, Alfred had asked "_How are you, young man?_"

Bruce had laughed in remembrance, "_You haven't called me that for a long time._"It had probably been years since, Alfred had called him that. The last time he had been called by that had been before the birth of Batman.

"_Old Habits die hard_"Alfred said with humor, before getting serious. "_Are you all right?_"

"_Where's Chase?_"Bruce had been quick to get to the point. At that moment, his own wellbeing was not as important as Chase's.

"_I'm afraid they've taken Dr. Meridian._"Alfred had said with remorse."_Master Dick has run away._"It had been bad news after bad news."_The cave has been destroyed. And there is another riddle._"

* * *

The need to do something to save the woman that he loved had been the main cause for the rebirth of the dark knight. When he had put up the cape, he had been sure that Batman would never make an appearance in his life again. But as it seemed, Bruce could never rid himself completely of Batman. Batman, even if Bruce was unaware, would always be part of him. The dark knight had made him who he was today.

It had took him a while to decode the riddles, but with Alfred's help, it had been done. The last riddle left for them had been, "_We're 5 little items of an everyday sort. You'll find us all in a tennis court_" It took them awhile, but Bruce had come to the conclusion that the answer to the riddle was vowels. Alfred had brought up the pressing questions. "_Not entirely unclever, sir, but what do a clock, a match, chess pawns, and vowels have in common? What do these riddles mean?_" As Batman and Bruce, he had always had an answer to all questions, and now wasn't an exception. "_Every riddle has a number in the question and they arrived at this order: 13, 1, 8, and 5_" Alfred had questioned this, and Bruce had reasoned that the numbers probably represented letters of the alphabet. Bruce and Alfred were a team as together they decoded the puzzling riddles.

"_Of course, 13 is M_" reasoned Alfred.

"_1 would be A, 8 would be H, and 5 would be E._" finished Bruce.

Alfred spelled it out, "_M-A-H-E._" That hadn't sounded just right and both of them shook their heads.

"_Perhaps 1 and 8 are 18?_" Bruce asked.

Alfred nodded. "_18 is R. M-R-E._"

"_How about Mr. E?_" asked Bruce, tapping his fingers on the table.

"_Mystery_" concluded Alfred.

The pieces of the puzzle were coming together. "_And another name for mystery?_" he asked.

"_Enigma_" answered Alfred with a knowing look in his eyes, that expressed '_Are you thinking what I'm thinking_'.

Bruce nodded. "_Mr. E. Nygma_" he said, "_Edward Nygma. Stickley's suicide was obviously a computer-generated forgery_" Bruce said, mentioning the previous death of one of his workers from Wayne Industries.

"_You really are quite bright, despite what people say._" Alfred had commented with a smile.

* * *

As Bruce Wayne, he had walked into the destroyed Bat cave. All but three things were destroyed. A flying batman vehicle, a boat-like batman vehicle, and a yet to be tested batman suit. It had to be tested at some point, and now was the perfect time to do so. He had been trying to decide what batman vehicle he should take, when Robin returned. Robin had reasoned with Bruce. That together, if they fought side by side, they would have a better chance at beating Two-Face and the Riddler.

Batman had nodded in agreement. "_Two versus two are better odds._"

"_I can't promise I won't kill Harvey._" informed Robin. But this time, Bruce did not let this fact cloud his thoughts, nor did Batman. Instead, both Bruce and Batman understood.

"_A mans gotta go his own way_" nodded Batman, "_A friend taught me that._"

Robin's hand out, he said "_Not just a friend._"

Batman put his hand in Robin's. As they shook hands, he said in a soft tone "_A partner._"

* * *

The two of them in their tights had taken off to save Dr. Meridian. Robin had taken the batman boat vehicle, and Batman the flying batman vehicle. All was going fine for the moment. But then the vehicle in the water was hit, and Robin was forced to eject. Not long after that, the vehicle that Batman was in was also hit, and it went crashing down to the water. It turned into a submarine, and things were well for a few seconds before he was also forced to leave the vehicle as it blew up.

He had fought off the men that were keeping Robin from surfacing. With the new gadgets that came with the new suit, he had aimed a net at the two villains, catching them. After tying them somewhere that would allow them to breathe, he had gone to face the Riddler, leaving Robin alone.

When Batman entered the lair, he was more than shocked to see that they had managed to catch Robin. Then the question that had always been on his mind since the birth of Batman had been brought up.

"_Can Bruce Wayne and Batman ever truly coexist?_" the Riddler had asked in a taunting manner, "_We'll find out today! But first, let's meet our contestants! Behind curtain number one…_"

Tied up and hung in a container high up in the room had been Chase Meridian. _"The absolute fabulous Dr. Chase Meridian. She enjoys hiking, getting her nails done, and foolishly hopes to be the love of Bruce's life!" _At those last words, Batman had grinded his teeth together.

"_And behind curtain number two…_" One of the henchmen pulled away the curtain, revealing Robin in an identical container nearby Chase's. "_Batman's one and only partner. The acrobat-turned orphan likes Saturday morning cartoons and one day dreams being…_" the Riddler then whispered deviously, "_Bare naked with a girl!_"

"_And below these Contestants…my personal favorite. A watery grave!_" the bad guy had exclaimed.

The Riddler had pointed to the button on his scepter. With one touch, Bruce's two friends would be gull feed on the pointy rocks below.

"_Not enough time to save them both. Which will it be, Batman? Bruce's love or the Dark Knight's junior partner?_" the Riddler had taunted.

Batman thought he knew the answer. "_There is no way for me to save them or myself. This is all one giant death trap_"

"_I'm sorry. Your answer must be in the form of a question. But thank you for playing_" he had said, going to push the button.

Underneath the mask, Bruce's eyes had widened. He knew that if he pressed that button then he would be forced to save one and let the other perish. However, he didn't know who he would save if such a predicament would occur. The lady in his life, who he loved dearly, or Robin, the boy that had found a way into his heart.

He had to stall. "_Wait! I have a riddle for you!_"

Eager, the Riddler had said "_For me? Really? Tell me_"

At his side, Batman held a blinding batarang. With an expression of seriousness, Batman had said "_I see without seeing. To me, darkness is as clear as daylight. What am I?" _This riddle could have two meanings. The first meaning would be the one that the Riddler would answer with, and the second one was the notion that Bruce and Batman could be the same, whether it be day or night.

"_Please! You're as blind as a bat!_" the Riddler had exclaimed.

Pressing a button on his suit, night vision lens slid to cover the eye slits on his mask, allowing him to see in the dark. "_Exactly_" he had said, throwing the batarang. The weapon hit the throne, and then the light above exploded, leaving the room dark. The mind draining device broke, draining the stolen knowledge from the Riddler's mind. On reflex, the Riddler had clicked the button. Batman's eyes had widened, before quickly jumping into action.

With a look of determination, he shot out the line from the grapple gun, and as the grappling hook dug into stable ground, he dived into the watery grave. He saw Chase. She was falling, and her eyes showed fear. He was quick to catch her with the grappling gun's line, stopping her from falling. Some fear still in her eyes, she relaxed. Leaving her safely hanging there, Batman dived to help his falling sidekick and friend. Robin was trying to untie the bonds as he fell. As he near the ground, Batman shot out a line from the grapple hook, catching Robin. Pushing a button on the device, he pulled Chase, Robin, and himself up to the surface.

With all the knowledge drained from the Riddler, he was no longer a threat. Out of the corner of his eyes, Robin had seen Two-Face trying to escape. Together, Batman and Robin had run after him. After they had fought and defeated him, Two-Face had asked to be left to die as he hung on the Clift. Batman had held a hand out, a kind gesture, but Two-Face's hand slipped and he had fallen into the water. After that, Batman had walked back into the lair to talk to the Riddler, who was silently crying over his defeat.

* * *

"_Why? Why can't I kill you? Too many questions…too many questions_" the Riddler had asked, defeated.

Batman had shook his head. "_Poor Edward_" he said, walking closer to the man. "_I had to save them both. You see, I'm both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Not because I have to be. Now…because I choose to be._" he held out his hand, but Edward only jumped back in fright, seeing only a bat.

It had took Bruce a life threatening decision to finally understand everything. During the daylight, he would not only be Bruce Wayne, but also the dark knight, Batman. The same logic applied during the night. When the moon was up, he would be both, Batman and Bruce. Batman and Bruce were one in the same. The only thing that had kept them separate before had been a mask. But as the mask was pealed away, so was the barrier that had kept them separate. That night, Bruce and Batman finally became one.

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**I hope this was good. Let me know in a review. Let me know what I should improve on, what you liked, what you disliked, etc. Have a nice day!**


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